The Times They Are a Changin'

Just For Fun!

Funny Yiddish video that I originally posted at the Negev Writing blog.

(The guys on the extreme left and right are my favs)

Check out the article I posted along with it at Negev Writing.

Great Product Copy - Part 1

This is a post from my new blog http://negevwriting.blogspot.com/ that I thought would be particularly relevant for the Jewish Donor Blog audience. Enjoy!

Ever pick up a product you've never heard of, read the label, and known immediately that you HAVE to buy it? Usually it's the packaging and design that seal the deal. It just looks too good not to have.

But occasionaly the text alone is so compelling, you're actually happy to part with your last dollar to try it! You don't know the brand, it's really expensive, and frankly, you don't even like granola. But you buy it anyways.

This is the first in a series of posts about these types of goods and services.

Our first case study is dorset cereals. Here's what I found on the side of their berries and cherries cereal box:

We believe that life really is too short to settle for second best and that simple, honest pleasures are often the most rewarding...

Visit http://negevwriting.blogspot.com/ to read the rest of the post. Are you using YOUR marketing writing effectively?

Oren

Amazing Banner Ad Marketing by Massa

What parent wants their kid to be sleeping around on their couch and watching TV all year long?!

This amazing banner ad by Massa brings together three main points in a very limited space:

1. No parent wants their kid lounging around in pajamas in their house all year long and to become their landlord.

2. The economy is bad, here's a solution.

3. The picture speaks for itself!

Great work Massa and I love their tag line "A better stimuls plan"!

Yoav

Another Take on Efficiency

Maybe it's time to take another look at efficiency as a measure of worth, especially in the non-profit sector.

There are other factors involved, and they need to be considered when making a donation.

Check out this article by consultant Dan Pallotta in HarvardBusiness.org.

David

Israeli Eye Candy

AEPi at IDC

Let the binge drinking begin! Ahem, I mean, let the brotherly fraternizing begin!

AEPi is new in town (in Israel that is) and IDC will be the home to the latest chapter of the AEPi... the fist college fraternity ever in Israel.

Good luck to the new brother's of AEPi at IDC and hey, try to get some school work done in between all that socializing.

In addition to the wild parties that they are known for, fraternities also have a community and social service element to them as well. In fact:

"Alpha Epsilon Pi raised $135,000 for the United States Memorial Holocaust
Museum in Washington and $100,000 for Magen David Adom.

At IDC, the members of the AEPi fraternity have participated in social, philanthropic and athletic
events."

Full article from the JPost.com by clicking here.

Yoav

Stay Calm People and Please, Don't Cut Your Donor Aquisition Budget! It Just Isn't The Smart Thing To Do.

As you may know already, I'm a big fan of Jeff Brooks and his Donor Power Blog.

I've even been pushing Jeff to add the Jewish Donor Blog to his blogroll for some time now.

Jeff, feel free to email or twitter me @negevdirectyoav to talk this over!

Many thanks Jeff for his link to my post, "Fundraise Like it Was 2007!" I'm glad to know Jeff is reading and loving our content!

What does Jeff have to do with this post you ask? Well, Jeff's latest contribution to Fundraising Success Magazine is called "Choose Your Budget-Cut Battles Wisely".

Jeff wisely notes that cutting back on donor acquisition budgets now will have long term financial effects lasting well into the years when the economy has stabilized and is growing again.

Cutting back on branding and advertising is a smarter move and here's some of the reasons Jeff (and myself) happen to think that 's true...

"The hard-to-see truth is that donors grow more valuable to the organization every year they’re with you. Their responsiveness, retention, even their likelihood of upgrading their giving amounts — they all increase every year. Here’s how it plays out:

• At the point of acquisition, you’re losing money.
• By the end of the first year, you’re breaking even among those new donors.
• The following year — your second with that group — you’re earning a 2-to-1 return from them.
• In the third year, your return rises to around 3-to-1. Starting to look good.
• The real payoff comes in the fourth and following years, when those established donors are returning $10 (or more) for every dollar you spend.

If you don’t get new donors this year, you won’t have second-year donors next year. More seriously, you won’t have fourth-year donors in four years. It’s as if those cuts leave a black hole in the middle of your donor base — a vacuum where there should have been responsive, committed donors."

Thanks Jeff for your words of wisdom and we hope to see www.jewishdonorblog.com up on your blogroll sometime soon!

Yoav

Secular vs. Religious

Thanks to the New York Times for the above graphic.

Clear, concise and to-the-point.

Charitable contributions drop drastically in 2008 while donations to religious organizations defy the trend and actually rise.

What's the message for fundraisers?

Should your organization tweak its message?

Mail to more religious lists?

Get back in the mail more agressively?

It's certainly food for thought.

David

"UJA-Fed. Launches $300 Million Effort For Day Schools"

"Responding to what experts are calling a financial crisis in the American day school movement, UJA-Federation of New York is launching a $300 million campaign to provide cash-strapped parents with tuition assistance, and schools with a measure of fiscal stability.

Los Angeles, which has the second largest Jewish federation after New York’s, has just announced a similar $100 million campaign."

by Carolyn Slutsky from the Jewish Week.com 6.10.09
Staff Writer

Read the full article by clicking here.